Solar Power Firms In Karnataka Make A Beeline Ahead Of March Open Access Deadline

With the March 2018 deadline for solar power projects in Karnataka to be able to be exempted from open access charges, ground level activities have picked up frantic pace to meet the deadline and avail the 10-year concession.

According to the scheme, a solar power producer is exempted from paying any fees, for 10 years, for using the government’s infrastructure if it is both producing and selling the power within the state of Karnataka. With commercial tariff in the high single digits or higher, and the price of producing solar power plummeting by the day, the scheme has led to several large corporate purchasing power directly from the producers, thereby ensuring savings of anywhere between 30% to 50%.

“For certain categories of customers, power tariff can be as high as Rs9 per unit. But thanks to the open access fee exemption, we are able to supply power to companies like Wipro Ltd, the Prestige Group, Bharti Airtel Ltd, etc. at a substantially lower rate and help them reduce their power expense,” Syed Fahad a director of the Golden Group, said. Read More…